Cienna’s Beautiful Hypnobabies Hospital Birth

First I want to say I started the Hypnobabies homestudy late (about 34 weeks) and that I had a really hard time not falling asleep in them. Toward the end I would fall asleep to them at night and then listen to them again in the morning before I got out of bed. I tried to practice my on/off and center switch but wasn’t very good at it. After going and going all week, I finally told DH that I didn’t have anything planned for the rest of the time I was pregnant. “Good, let’s keep it that way” is how he responds. He doesn’t like being overscheduled. So Friday night we finally had a relaxing night. We watched a movie. I kept putting DH hand on my belly so he could feel how the baby was pushing or exercising. We joked that it liked to be up at night when I wanted to be sleeping. So we went to bed at 11 ish I think. If this was part of my birthing time, I was pretty clueless. I didn’t think anything of it.

I woke up at 1:50 am because I thought I peed my pants. But I had to pee a lot more. And more. DH asked what was up and I said I thought my water broke. He said “just go back to bed.” So I tried. But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to just lay there and think about it. So I went to the computer and worked on it. I put on my birthing day affirmations CD to help me be in a positive mindset. I used a computer website (thanks to whoever put that great resource up!) to time my pressure waves. They were about 5 minutes apart and 45 second long from the time I started timing them. I decided that maybe I should try to relax during the pressure waves. So I would breathe and use a “peace” cue. I was kind of disappointed because they were starting to hurt a little. But I felt like I could relax a little better doing the peace cue. So I did that until maybe 4:30 am and I thought it was time I focused and lay down to relax better and listen to my easy first stage birthing CD.

I called the midwife and woke up DH. I was trying to let everyone sleep as long as possible. I thought that I would probably give birth about 8 or 9 am because that is how long my other births were. A neighbor came to stay with my other girls so they could sleep. DH and I got in the car. I was listening to the Easy First stage Birthing CD the whole time and I think that helped me try to relax. I tried the On/Off lightswitch but never got the hang of it so I just used the Peace” cue. DH didn’t run any red lights because he said I looked
like I was doing well. He used his “relax” cue and put his hand on my shoulder while I had pressure waves. I was breathing and I felt my hands get tingly and I thought, “I think I am hyperventilating” And with every contraction I started to feel tingly in my hips.

I walked into the hospital and then got in a wheelchair so I could relax more. The ladies at the triage were so kind. They pulled out all the consent form but after they looked at me they said “you better get her back here and check her out. The midwife was there. That last contraction was the one that I thought “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.” I held onto DH as he comforted me. I got onto the bed and DH pulled off my pants and shoes. The midwife checked me and asked if I felt pushy. I thought “pushy, I don’t know” but my body took that as a cue that it was okay to push.

The midwife, Darlene, said “she is fully dilated and at station +2. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t have time to think though because my body wanted to push and all inhibition were gone. I asked that they put the bed up so I could be semi reclining. DH said that her head came out so quickly and then the next contraction her body came out. It was 6:06 am and DH said “it’s a girl.”

The best thing was that it didn’t hurt. I didn’t scream or yell like I did with my first. I was so fearful that I would tear because I had gone so quickly to pushing. I tried to do it slow. The only thing I wish is that I could have had a mirror to watch her being born. So they put the baby on my shirt. (I didn’t have time to put the gown on.) They midwife checked for tears and there were none! I was ecstatic. It was over already, just when it was getting intense. DH keeps saying I looked so much more relaxed and comfortable than I did with the others.

We think all that Hypnobabies CDs helped. Even though I slept through a lot of them. They got us to a room in about 15 minutes and I went in to take a shower while DH and the nurses took care of Cienna. I still couldn’t believe it was all over so quickly. I was so happy to be free of contractions. And my other girls were still home sleeping! Good thing I didn’t wait until everyone had woke up on their own to get to the hospital. I can’t believe how close I was to having that baby in the car. I can’t believe I didn’t know how close I was to having her. I am so grateful that Cienna has no problems and that I didn’t have any either. With the other two there was always something we had to check up on (heart murmur, hearing, tongue tie, jaundice) and I was glad that I didn’t have any stitches or any excessive bleeding like I had had in the past. I attribute that to the pregnancy tea!

All I can say is “wow,” our bodies really do know how to have babies if we let them. I am so thankful for this remarkable experience and a new little daughter. We just need to figure out how to take care of her now!